Ed Sheeran 'deeply concerned' over online touts as tickets sold for £1000

The singer-songwriter has teamed up with face value ticket platform Twickets for his April and May concerts. However, dozens of listings appeared on secondary ticketing sites offering the passes at inflated prices just minutes after going on sale.

Disappointed fans vented their disgust at touts on Twitter after failing to get hold of tickets to his 14-date UK and Ireland tour, which were released on general sale on Thursday morning.

A representative for Sheeran told the Press Association: " We are vehemently opposed to the unethical practices that occur in the secondary market.

"We have written to each of our partners, be them promoters, venues or ticketing companies detailing the way in which we expect tickets to be sold: direct to fans.

"We have also partnered with a company called Twickets (www.twickets.co.uk) which is a site aimed at the ethical resale of tickets, which allows fans to swap tickets at face value or less; we are pushing them as the official resale partner and a safe place for fans to swap tickets.

"We are aware and deeply concerned about the websites in question and have urged all fans not to engage with them in order to avoid being ripped off with higher prices or, potentially, counterfeit tickets.

"Once again, we urge all fans to only purchase tickets through official vendors."

Those vendors include Alt Tickets, Amazon, AXS, Gigantic, My Ticke, See Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory and Tickets Scotland, as well as all official venue websites

Fan Joss Woodend posted a screengrab of tickets being resold at up to £550 per ticket, and said: "This is is why it is impossible to get @edsheeran tickets.

"The industry is a mess - sort ticket touts out."

On secondary ticketing site StubHub, four tickets to his gig at The O2 Arena on May 1, originally priced at £77, were being offered at £999 each plus booking fees.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for eBay confirmed tickets had been removed from the auction website.

The spokesman said: "Tickets for gigs are not allowed on eBay and any listings will be removed."

A spokesman for StubHub has been contacted.

Twickets, which launched in 2011, allows fans to buy and sell spare tickets at face value or less.

Last year, Adele announced she was teaming up with them for her sold-out Wembley Stadium concerts after fans paid up to a reported £25,000 for a previous tour.

A StubHub spokeswoman said: "Owned by eBay, StubHub provides a safe and secure marketplace for fans. Like all marketplaces, the prices are set by sellers and what they think the market will bear.

"Sometimes this is above the original face value but it's important to note that sellers can change their list price at any time before the tickets sell. We often see prices decline as an event approaches and on average 40% of tickets on StubHub sell for face value or below."